Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen lead an exceptional cast in this utterly compelling two-hour journey back to the dark days of WWII and the dark corridors of the British government where the powers that be put all of their money on a decomposing corpse to halt Adolf Hitler’s tightening grip on Europe.
Operation Mincemeat is the latest in a long line of World War II-set films that fall in the category, for me personally, of stories that I absolutely should have known about, but did not prior to viewing the movie.
Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) lead proceedings as a pair of top-ranking intelligence officials who have been tasked with coming up with a plan to divert Hitler’s army from the shores of Sicily so they can take hold of the Mediteteran Island, one that can lead them to Rome and give them a strong footing against the German occupation. The plan that they come up with is to plant a dead body of a serviceman where they know papers planted upon him will reach Berlin. The papers contain false information alluding to the plans that the British plan to invade Greece and not the predicted Sicily, hoping that Hitler will move his men across the Med leaving the real target for the taking with little resistance.
The duo has, at their disposal, the best that MI5 has, despite those ‘up top’ not quite having all that much faith initially. Hester Leggett (Penelope Wilton) and secretary Jean Leslie (Kelly MacDonald) are among them, the latter giving permission to have her likeness used as the corpse’s fictional girlfriend in exchange for more involvement. There’s also Johnny Flynn as Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, serving before he put pen to paper to create James Bond, but the film is littered with gentle nods to 007, and not so gentle ones, too.
It’s all engrossing stuff – a really well-constructed feature that holds your attention throughout, most due to Michelle Ashford’s brilliant screenplay, based on the book by Ben Macintyre. Teamed Madden’s skillful directing and the wonderful production design and cinematography you have a story devoid of any action set pieces but full of edge-of-your-seat moments through people essentially talking for the duration.
The clear stand-out in the cast is Macfadyen, flying high from his constantly scene-stealing turn as Tom Wambsgans in HBO’s exceptional Succession. His co-leading man status in this sees him face off against fellow former Mr. Darcy and come out on top.
Released on Netflix in North America, but getting a delayed but deserved big-screen outing in the UK, Operation Mincemeat is a well-formulated, perfectly captured snapshot of WWII history presented in a neat film package that’ll captivate most audiences.
Operation Mincemeat is released in UK cinemas on 15th April 2022.
Operation Mincemeat
Summary
A brilliantly presented, well-constructed film that despite being full of people essentially talking to one another for two hours, will have you on the edge of your seat.
